KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian food and beverage (F&B) supply solutions providers, Food Market Hub and Supplybunny, have launched the country's first business-to-business (B2B) embedded financing programme.

The tripartite partnership sees Food Market Hub connecting its 3,000 F&B operators with the 800 suppliers on Supplybunny through its integrated solutions powered by Funding Societies, Southeast Asia's largest unified small and medium enterprise (SME) digital financing platform. 

This allows the F&B operators to receive inventory orders from the suppliers in the ecosystem.

Upon receiving the delivery, F&B operators continue to have the option to defer payment for up to 30 days.

The embedded financing allows the suppliers to receive payment upon fulfilling the inventory orders. 

With this initiative, F&B operators and suppliers - primarily small and medium enterprises (SMEs) - get to manage their cash flow better. 

Besides that, the F&B operators would also benefit from better management of their working capital and rotating capital as they focus on sustaining or growing their businesses.

Food Market Hub chief executive officer Anthony See said Malaysia's F&B industry is projected to contribute RM35.2 billion to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), and amidst that, an estimated 22 per cent growth was recorded for 2022 and a further eight per cent expansion this year.

"Despite this year's optimistic outlook, we need to prepare ourselves for a possible recessionary economy. 

"In such a situation, the cash flow that SMEs save would allow them breathing room to reinvest into marketing or improving their customer experience. We want to help restaurant operators succeed in the competitive F&B industry," he said in a statement.

Successful restaurants and F&B outlet operators may enjoy - zero-collateral financing, financing facility up to RM50,000, fast processing within 14 days, and minimal documentation requirement during application.

Supplybunny chief executive officer Tham Keng Yew said the company ran a successful pilot involving cold-chain and fresh suppliers over the last few months. We are now ready to roll out the program on a larger scale.

"We are excited about the impact this initiative can have on the food service vertical in Malaysia - specifically improving cash flow efficiency facilitates just-in-time supply and reduces the stress on the supply chain. 

"The benefits, in turn, would contribute towards Malaysia's short- and medium-term policy on food security," he added.

Meanwhile, Funding Societies Malaysia country head Chai Kien Poon said access to capital remains key to SMEs in the F&B sector as they seek to meet the increased customers' demand post-pandemic and to help them scale their operations. 

Hence, he noted that getting easy and direct access to financing is critical. 

"By partnering with Food Market Hub and Supplybunny, Funding Societies will be able to serve and scale creditworthy, underserved SMEs in the F&B industry," he said.

The financing programme is now available on both Food Market Hub and Supplybunny marketplaces. 

Restaurant operators can sign up and take advantage of this new financial solution.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/2023/04/902781/food-market-hub-supplybunny-launches-countrys-first-b2b-embedded-financing